George W. Bush To Keynote Cayman Islands Investment Conference
Not entirely the party's message of the week.

Former President George W. Bush is set to deliver the keynote address at the Cayman Alternative Investment Summit on Grand Cayman just a few days before the election.....

"Institutional investors, private investors, asset allocators, fund managers, service providers, academics and regulators will benefit from this discussion on the future of the industry," reads to the FAQ section of the website.

The timing of the conference could land awkwardly during an election season that's been marked by speculation about Mitt Romney's finances, particularly his offshore investments in tax havens like the Cayman Islands.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/rosiegray/george-w-bush-to-keynote-cayman-islands-investmen

Mitt Romney’s campaign handed out more than $200,000 in bonuses last month to senior staffers, according to new disclosure records filed Thursday.

Richard Beeson, Romney’s national political director, received a $37,500 payment on Aug. 31 in addition to his salary, according to records filed with the Federal Election Commission.

In addition, records show at least six other top staffers each received $25,000 bonuses on the same date: campaign manager Matt Rhoades, general counsel Kathryn Biber, policy advisor Lanhee Chen, communications director Gail Gitcho, digital director Zach Moffatt and advisor Gabriel Schoenfeld. Two other employees received $10,000 bonuses......

Despite strong fundraising since May, new records show that the campaign was struggling badly for money in August because it had run low on primary funds and was unable to tap into contributions collected for the general election until after the nomination. As a result, the campaign borrowed $20 million.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/election-2012/wp/2012/09/20/romney-campaign-gives-bonuses-to-top-staff/

I wish they weren't unionized so we could go a lot deeper than you're actually allowed to go.

Mr. Romney described the night he met his future wife at a high-school party, revealing that he’d wooed her away from another boy who had brought her to party.

“She caught my eye. I went up to her and found she’d come with someone else,” Mr. Romney said. “And I said to the guy she came with, you know, I live closer to Ann than you do. Can I give her a ride home for you? And he said sure.”

“He fell for that?” Mr. Strahan asked.

“Yeah, he fell for that,” Mr. Romney said.

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2012/09/14/romney-is-a-fan-of-peanut-butter-cups-and-snooki/

Mrs. Romney recounted that when she spent the night in the White House during President George W. Bush’s administration, she accidentally wandered into a room where the president was getting a massage.

“He was covered up, but I was so embarrassed that the next time I did see him I didn’t know what I was going to say to him,” she said. “We were going down the elevator from the White House, going to an event together, and I walked up to the elevator and am just like blushing, blushing, blushing ,and he looks at me and he winks as he does and says, ‘I look pretty good, don’t I?’”

.....Obama increased his lead over Romney in certain favorable characteristics. Asked who was more "eloquent," 50 percent of the 1,720 registered voters questioned in the poll favored Obama, compared to 25 percent for Romney. Asked about being "smart enough for the job," 46 percent sided with Obama compared to 37 percent for Romney.

In fact, Obama led Romney in a dozen such favorable characteristics, such as "represents America" or "has the right values." The only such category in which Romney had an advantage was being "a man of faith," as 44 percent picked Romney, who is Mormon, compared to 31 percent for Obama, who is Christian.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/08/us-usa-campaign-poll-idUSBRE88619X20120908